Opposite To The Spinetes Across The Adriatic, On The Coast Of Dalmatia, The
Liburnians Dwelt.
In some respects their coast was preferable to that of
Italy for maritime affairs, as it is studded with
Islands, which afforded
shelter to ships, and likewise possessed many excellent harbours; but the
Liburnians, as well as most of the inhabitants of Illyria, were more eager
after piracy than commerce; and, as we shall afterwards see, carried their
piracies to such a daring and destructive extent, that the Romans were
compelled to attack them. Their devotedness to piracy explains what to
Mons. Huet appears unaccountable. He observes, that it is remarkable that
neither the Dalmatians, who were powerful at sea by means of their port
Salona, which was their capital, nor the Liburnians themselves, according
to all appearance, had the use of money among them. Commerce cannot be
carried on to great extent, or in a regular and expeditious manner, by
natives ignorant of the use of money; but money seems to be not at all
requisite to the purposes of piracy. The Liburnian ships, or more properly
speaking, those ships which were denominated Liburnian, from having been
invented and first employed by this people, were of two kinds; one large,
fit for war and long voyages, but at the same time built light and for
quick sailing. After the victory of Actium, which Augustus gained in a
great measure by means of these ships, few were built by the Romans of any
other construction.
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